Chinese women’s table tennis team has been rocked by a gambling scandal involving its coach mid-way through the ITTF World Championships in Dusseldorf, Germany. The national team has suspended Kong Linghui, a retired star player for China, and drafted in an equally storied replacement as it bids to avert a crisis in one of China’s most popular sports.

According to media reports, former table tennis world champion Kong borrowed one million Singaporean dollars (721,200 US dollars) from Singapore casino resort Marina Bay Sands in 2015 and failed to repay it. The resort has now filed a lawsuit in a Hong Kong court, aiming to recover 454,375 Singaporean dollars plus interest.

Liu Guoliang, head coach of the Chinese national team, announced on Tuesday that Kong had been replaced by Li Sun, the mentor of three Chinese Olympic champions and known to the world as "the championship coach."

"The team will not be too much affected… we will focus on the matches. I trust our strength, not only the players' strength but also the coaching," said Liu, playing down the scandal’s impact.

Li Sun coached Chinese player Mu Zi during a qualifications match for the  World Championships. /VCG Photo

"Li Sun is a very experienced and successful coach. He is very familiar with our players and our opponents. At the same time, I will shift my working priority to the women's team as well," Liu added.

Li coached Chinese player Mu Zi to a 4-1 victory on Tuesday evening, in her first match in charge at the Dusseldorf tournament.

Li told Sina News afterwards that the team would try to stay united.

Kong claims that he knew nothing about the supposed debt until reading about it in media reports. He left his personal details with the casino while watching relatives and friends gambling at Marina Bay Sands on the occasion in question in 2015, according to a statement on his Weibo account.

Kong has also said that he would resort to legal means to protect his rights.

 General Administration of Sports vows an investigation into Kong Linghui's case‍. /Screenshot of General Administration of Sports website

Commenting on the issue, China’s General Administration of Sports said it has a "zero-tolerance attitude" towards any behavior which violated sporting ethics and the law. It apologized to the public for the incident's "negative influence” and promised an investigation into the case.

The public’s reaction to the case has been divided.

"I agree with the resolution by the General Administration of Sports. We do need a cautious attitude dealing with the issue for a fair solution. Meanwhile, Kong should be justly treated," said someone with the screen name “yanyan” on Sina Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

"The World Championships has just started! And this is a case from two years ago. I feel like there's a conspiracy going on here," said “zhengzaiyangchengdexueba.”

"He's a CPC member! How could this happen?! Kong deserves to be investigated!" raged “suheng4012.”

Kong Linghui, together with his teammate Wang Hao, claimed the men's doubles title in the 2005 World Cup. /VCG Photo

Kong enjoys high popularity among Chinese as a successful athlete and team coach. Dubbed "Ping Pong Prince," he claimed grand slam titles at the World Cup, World Championships, and two Olympic Games between 1994 and 2005. Retired in 2006, Kong became coach of the national women's team.

(CGTN's Wang Meng also contributed to this story.)

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China’s table tennis coach Kong Linghui hit by gambling debt scandal